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Chapter 7

Translators: Meg

Editor: Sotheno

The sun shone brightly, the breeze was cool. On top of that, there was no gate occurrence in that morning, so she could leisurely enjoy her tea time. She felt happy.

Actually… Even if there was an overcast sky without any wind, and an S class gate appeared where she‘d have to be dispatched, she would still be happy. 

“Hm, Hmmm…”

A genius, who was distinguished among the superhumans across the world. One that appeared once every few hundred years, and the pride of all young Korean superhumans who stood at rank 317 in the Worlds Superhuman Ranking. 

Renowned not just in Korea, but across the whole world, the Thunder Empress Shin Eunah felt cheerful for the entire day. People who heard humming coming out of her office were curious.

“Did something good happen to our Thunder Empress?”

“She never scolded me today.” 

“She’s had that smile on her face earlier. My heart almost dropped as I passed her during lunchtime seeing how beautiful it was.“

“Don’t talk about her looks in front of her. She hates it.“

“I’m not crazy.”

Shin Eunah had the world‘s attention from a young age for possessing the SS rank trait [Conqueror of Thunder]. Of course, her beauty resembling that of a bisque stone contributed to her popularity, but compared to her gleaming talent, it was a trivial factor. 

Since she was a child, Shin Eunah received the best education to match the expectations of having parents who were among the top 10,000 in the World Superhuman Ranking. When she graduated from elementary school, her skill levels were to the extent that she could easily place within the top 1,000 in the World Superhuman Ranking.

But in the end, she rejected every sweet deal coming from various large well-known guilds from all around the world. Instead choosing to settle at the Association of Korean Superhumans instead. 

It was a prestigious position, for sure–but many people were confused by her decision. Even in Korea, you could easily find guilds that were willing to pay two to three times the amount the Korean government could pay her.

“Excuse me, Division Leader.”

“Come in.” 

The Special Mission Force of the Association of Korean Superhumans was a unit that specialized in tackling missions that were beyond the capability of ordinary superhumans of the association. 

It was a unit that only a select few possessing remarkable combat skills were assigned to, Shin Eunah was the Division Leader of the 1st Division. 

“This is the record of the ‘A-Gate K-SEn4017’ incident that happened three days ago. The 7th Division of the Special Mission Force was dispatched to the scene, and they have successfully apprehended all the suspects before any more victims could arise. The case was resolved.“

“Ah, yes. Mm. Mm-Mm.” 

As if her thoughts were at some happy faraway place, Shin Eunah flipped through the pages of the report, blatantly unengaged in the conversation with her secretary. 

It was an incident involving complications having to do with violating various kinds of rights. But the only details she paid attention to were the number of dispatched special force members and the method they employed to suppress the targets. 

Most of the time, an incident would be resolved without having to dispatch the 1st Division, but as preparation for a possible joint operation in the future. Shin Eunah kept track of every single incident report through her secretary. 

“What’s the status of the gate forecast for the evening?”

She asked while tossing away the report which she barely read. The secretary replied while withholding her sigh.

“No case of irregulars. All 8 gates of C rank or above have been acquired successfully.“

“There shouldn’t be a problem then. I’ll get going.” 

“Will you be spending time today with the Alchemist lady again?” 

“Yes. Is there a problem?“

Anybody informed on issues surrounding superhumans knew that the Thunder Empress was friends with the American High Ranker (rank 479) Alchemist Claire Boyle. 

But no one knew where that friendship had begun. Although they were similar in age, their areas of activity were completely different. 

“No, sorry, it’s nothing. I was just wondering if there’s a scouting intention behind that person‘s approach to you…“

“Her?”

“No, it’s nothing! Have a great day, then!“

Just as Shin Eunah was about to respond with a slight frown on her face, her secretary, whose mind had now become completely frozen, spat out words like a rapid-firing gun and quickly ran out of the office. 

Shin Eunah stared at the door for a few seconds with a weirded-out expression, but then stood up after emitting a short sigh. 

“I wasn’t going to eat you alive or anything…”

Dark clouds were temporarily cast in her mind which had been fully bright during the day. But she was able to shake it off easily as that sort of thing was a common occurrence. 

She no longer cared about what people who didn’t matter to her thought about her. Sometimes some thoughts made her depressed and often made her cry, but now she was completely unaffected. 

Because Grandpa was back. 

Because he spoke to her once again.

“He’s a fraud. I’m sure of it.“

As they met at the Superhuman Market after work, Claire Boyle pouted her lips as if she wasn’t satisfied with something. Her red hair, which was stylishly tied down, bounced around in various directions as if to express her feelings. 

“Do you really believe resurrection is possible? There hasn’t been a single case like it in the Hero Universe which was teeming with extraordinary geniuses.” 

“If souls exist, resurrection should definitely be possible… And grandpa is a genius. An unmatched genius who built all those artifacts in a world consisting of nothing.” 

Though nobody else knew about this, the Thunder Empress and the Alchemist shared one common thing. That was their membership in a secret community in the Hero Universe. 

Claire Boyle entered the Hero Universe when she awakened her skills in high school and met Shin Eunah there. 

They quickly became close after learning of the coincidence that they shared their homeworld, and with the freedom gained in adulthood, they have been maintaining a solid friendship by occasionally meeting up, disregarding the boundaries between their countries.

“You’re being scammed. It‘s just a new user with the same ID.” 

“That can’t be it. Grandpa explained it all. Also even though he’s lost his memories, his personality was the same. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize grandpa.“

“Well, I wouldn’t know that. So? If he‘s connected to the Hero Universe, did he awaken a certain skill?“

“I didn’t ask him that. But since it‘s grandpa it would probably just be another artifact crafting skill like before.” 

Shin Eunah spoke with a bright smile while fiddling with her hairpin in her bangs. 

For someone who’d never smile in her life emitting such an innocent smile… If someone were to see her, they’d mistake her for a girl who’s in love. Claire Boyle let out a deep sigh. 

“It‘s just a scammer no matter how I think about it. Like I said before, why don’t you just get a boyfriend if you have time to care about some old man? You know that I‘ll have to return to New York after this commission is finished. Should we enjoy the nightlife of Seoul before then, hm?“

“I hate places like that.”

“Just why? There’s even a superhuman-exclusive club, why won’t you wanna go?” 

Superhuman-exclusive club. Just as the words imply, it’s a club where only superhumans can enter. A VIP establishment for superhumans that could only be located in a city like Seoul, a world center of superhumans ever since gates started appearing. 

Shin Eunah responded to her friend, who was eager to take her to the club, without hesitation.

“I promised grandpa to stay as a good girl.” 

“That geezer again! Kng, forget about it. Let‘s just quickly wrap up Janus’ commission. Finding that. . . . . Godslayer sword or something.” 

Having realized once again that the conversation would not come to a resolution with an issue surrounding “grandpa,” Claire Boyle shifted the topic while letting out a deep sigh. But unfortunately, the matter here was also related to “grandpa.” 

“I definitely felt it around here, but the presence is gone today.” 

“Did someone take it already?”

The girls were in an alley that was quite secluded in the Superhuman Market. Having accepted a commission from Janus, a strong associate of theirs in the Hero Universe, they were looking for his Aegean sword that was said to have fallen on earth.

“That’s not possible. Because its presence is tightly sealed, if it can’t be detected by grandpa‘s hairpin, you won’t be able to find it.“

“Looking at its picture and how it’s completely covered in black down to the sword’s edge, the sword seemed to contain a significant meaning behind it. . . . . . Ah, let‘s try there. It looks like a store that contains lots of weapons with some sort of meaning behind.“

Shin Eunah, who was constantly fiddling with her hairpin while scouting around for nearby magical powers, turned towards where her friend was pointing at. It was a small pawnshop located at the mouth of the alley. As it was a place that took security deposits and loans from superhumans, there was an eerie feeling surrounding it. 

“All right, let‘s check it out.” 

“Okay. Mmm, I hope Janus gives us plenty of HP as promised after we find it. There’s this cocktail ingredient that I’ve really wanted to buy, and each root costs over 3 million! Can you believe it? 3 freakin million!“

“Yeah, Yeah.”

“But what does Janus do to have that much HP? What the hell is he?“

“He‘s a bit eccentric but incredibly strong. I’ve heard he is among the top 3 in Hero Universe.”

“Holy crap. . . . . . What the hell is up with Anvil then, making a weapon for such a superstar?“

“He’s our grandpa.”

“Yeah, Yeah.”

Even though Shin Eunah was heading towards the pawnshop while talking to her friend, her thoughts were somewhere else. She wanted to quickly finish the commission and talk to grandpa again as soon as possible. 

Grandpa would be so surprised if he knew what I’m currently looking for. . . . . . She thought while letting out an innocent laugh.

Countless people who peeped at her experienced difficulty in breathing, but she was completely unaware of that fact. 

@@@

[Janus]: “I’m literally gonna go insane. Anvil geezer, do you really not remember me?“

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “I do. . . . . . actually faintly remember having a conversation with you.“

Meanwhile, Kang Shin-hyuk–Shin Eunah‘s “grandpa”–was speaking to Janus with the Godslayer sword gripped in hand, which the girls were desperately looking for. 

Given the size of the message log with Janus, he seemed to have been the closest friend of Anvil just after “Eunah.“ Kang Shin-hyuk sent him a message in the evening as well, but Janus didn’t reply until late at night. 

[Janus]: “I told you, stop using honorifics with meeeee!“

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “Ah, uhm . . . . . . Sorry. I’ll take it easy.” 

[Janus]: “Whoo. So you’re telling me the Godslayer sword is in your hands right now?“

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “Yes sir–I mean yes. It‘s all thanks to this that I was able to reconnect to the Hero Universe. But it has significantly weakened. Currently, it‘s at D rank by the Gaia system‘s standards. 

[Janus]: “D rank is less than garbage. . . . . . Sigh, I don’t even need to look at it to know the Dragon Heart is missing. Am I right?“

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “So the Dragon Heart was originally embedded. . . . . .”

A D rank weapon is a standard weapon in modern monster hunting. A new product would easily surpass 20 million and even a used product could be sold at 10 million as long as it has been managed carefully. 

Despite that, Janus was treating it as garbage. He had realized once before when Janus casually mentioned a legendary treasure like a Dragon heart, but now there was no doubt that Janus was a person possessing unfathomable strength.

[Janus]: “Forget about it; I don’t even know how to repair a dying sword, so you can have it. Instead, make me a new Godslayer sword. There are still a couple left that I need to kill. Also, it‘d be nice if it‘s fire-friendly. 

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “I’m really sorry, but my metallurgy level has been reset as well, so. . . . . .”

[Janus]: “For real–then just quickly restore it. You‘re still doing a job involving knocking on metals, aren’t you?“

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “Actually I’m not yet.“

[Janus]: “Yet?“

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “No, not yet.“

Kang Shin-hyuk laughed while making that response. It was as if everyone related to the Hero Universe, including the Administrator itself, was expecting him to perform metallurgy. 

Even though there was no way that the same results would be produced by the current him picking up a hammer. . . . . . .

“I’d have to do it anyway, though.” 

To train his spirit power. 

To increase his assimilation rate and receive the whole of Hero Universe’s VIP benefits. 

. . . . . . No, those weren’t the only reasons. 

They were of course included, but separate from such “necessary” reasons, there was an image of himself pursuing metallurgy purely for its own sake. 

“I want to forge and create things out of metal. I couldn’t shake off this impulse ever since I saw the back of that lonely man.” 

Ever since he received the memories from a past life, and perhaps even more so since sharpening the Godslayer‘s sword, he could not help his uncontrollable urge to use a hammer.)

Perhaps the reason he prioritized martial training that day out of all days was an attempt to resist that incredible urge. 

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “But I will do it now.“

Not that it was possible to delay training in the first place. He didn’t want to delay, nor was there a reason to. 

Having realized his spiritual power, observed his ego, and confronted the Godslayer sword, he was finally ready. 

[Janus]: Yes, of course, you will. Anyways if you‘re going be making me another Godslayer sword, I’ll bring whatever ingredients you need. So I’ll leave it all up to you, geezer.“

[Kang Shin-hyuk]: “All right, thanks.“

Kang Shin-hyuk raised his head after finishing his conversation with Janus. 

Now firmly determined on what to do, his eyes radiated brightly, like a night sky brimming with stars.

“I’ll thoroughly search for ways to train metallurgy.”

[A bonus of 100HP from a deeply moved Administrator!]

“Wait, why now?!”